Blue Blur: New Protocol
by R-Cat's Fan-Universe
Summary: SEQUEL TO BLUE BLUR. A week has passed since Elis Jameson - now known as the Blue Blur - has solved the mystery of Sonic the Hedgehog's death, but he still has questions about himself. Nicole has fled, leaving Elis behind stories of his purpose scattered around the city. All of this connects to ten years ago, when Sonic the Hedgehog is racing against the clock to prepare to die.


**_This is a sequel to my first story - Blue Blur - and I highly recommend reading that first._**

_Special Thanks to Gustav Ferreira_

_(He had the idea for this book)_

_**November 2010 – 1 week after the end of the Black Hat incident**_

_The audio starts with a voice. Recognisable, but quiet, as if she were talking to herself. It's hard to tell what she was trying to say._

"Hello? Hello? I can't even tell if this thing is on…piece of shit.

_ And then her voice hits a disciplined monotone._

"Freedom Fighter's Agency Video Document. Date: twelve November 2010. Time: five minutes to two AM.

_A_ _long pause follows._

"Intended Recipient: Elis Jameson.

_Weren't you relieved to hear your name?_

"Sender's Name: Nicole. No surname. Location: the Vault, New Mobotropolis, Knothole, Mobius.

_Her panicked voice returned._

"Elis. There's a lot to say and I don't have long to say it. I'm doing a temporary standby until it's safe to come back. The excuse is a system defragmentation, so just play along with whatever Rotor says.

"Anyway, I can't stay long. I need you to take this recorder and an envelope I left where we normally hide the stuff…our stuff…and then you run home, and make sure you destroy every tape when you're done listening to it. Including this one.

"I realised that it's only me that can tell you this. I'll tell you everything about you and how much you're needed. The past few days have told you a lot, Elis, but they haven't told you everything.

_How did you feel? Confused? The past few days have been confusing, and perhaps they are to get even more so._

"Listen to me carefully these next few tapes, Elis. I've compiled my own knowledge with the data of the Vault to tell you everything about your birth.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. We'll play cards again soon, I promise.

"NICOLE: SIGNING OUT."

_You picked up the tape recorder you just listened to, and took it near a giant box which filled almost a third of the warehouse you stood in, labelled only "NICOLE 3.0". You opened a small trap door near it to find a few glass bottles of Coca-Cola, a packet of playing cards and a sealed envelope, with your name and address written on it, as well as a "CONFIDENTIAL" stamp._

_You opened it to find only one tape, labelled sloppily with the number two. You took the previously heard tape from the recorder, labelled number one, and stamped on it, shattering it beyond repair. You continued to brush it with your foot into the trap door._

_As you reached into the envelope to ensure there was only just one, you found a piece of paper, written with the terrible handwriting of someone who had just learned how to hold a pen:_

I made sure they weren't all in the same place, just in case the King does find out.

I'll tell you where they are when you need them.

- Nicole x

* * *

><p><em><strong>October 1995 – not long over 15 years ago<strong>_

The streets of the Eggman Empire were soaked in acid rain, the sky thick with pollution. These streets were empty, most of its citizens at this hour doing heavy physical work for their dictator in the towering crimson factories that were most of the buildings. Despite it being mid-day, the clouds and rain shut off the city from its sunlight, making the difference between day and night look non-existent, the country almost always dimly lit by electric lampposts.

In the very centre of the city there was a huge skyscraper known as the Scrap Brain Tower. An enormous cluster of factories at the bottom, but stretching upwards ten miles to be a mark of the Robotnik family's true power over Mobius. At the very top, above the clouds of smog and the darkened city below, was the colossal office belonging to the current Eggman.

If you've ever played the games this fiction is based on, you'll know he didn't stay there long when Sonic entered the building.

As a matter of fact, Eggman is lying on the floor in the wreckage of what was a twenty foot machine made to resemble himself. His bald, bloodied head was cool and collective even at the severity of his injuries, his sunglasses once again shattered in front of him, and the twenty-year-old Mobian hedgehog standing over his near unconscious body.

The blue Mobian picked up the human and brought him to eye level with him. Eggman remained calm. "The weapon," he hissed. "Where is he?!"

Eggman smiled at his old rival coldly. "He, Sonic?"

Sonic punched him. Eggman knew he meant what he said. "It, God damn you! Where is it?!"

Eggman stared deep into his nemesis' eyes. "It's cute, you know."

"What's cute?"

"You're love for that measly test tube. I'm trying to figure out whether it's paternal or patriotic. A father doesn't want to lose his son, a soldier doesn't want to lose his gun. Maybe it's both – that's a thought."

"I don't have time for your stupid theories!"

"Maybe it's artistic. An artist would go insane at the thought of losing his painting. Oh, well, I'm no psychologist…"

Sonic punched his old enemy and cried aggressively. "Tell me where it is, you twat! Tell me now or I swear to the Gods I'll…"

"You'll what?"

Sonic failed to respond.

"Kill me and you'll be remembered as a villain," Eggman had a bubbly tone to his voice. "Let me live and the Empire continues. Well! Isn't this a plot twist?"

"_You_ …"

"Which do you want more? Your victory," he paused, as if he were to answer his own question. "Or your _dignity_?"

"You're an idiot!" An aggressive chant. "_Freedom Fighters put freedom first_!"

"The last time I checked, Sally wasn't into war criminals…"

The blue hedgehog dropped his target, and to his knees in equal succession, sobbing silently. At the same time, Eggman got up and chuckled at the accuracy of his prediction. He pointed a Desert Eagle he hid at his attacker's forehead.

"I'm not going to shoot you, Sonic," he explained casually. "We both know you'd dodge these bullets, but I know we're at a stalemate. Seeing as neither of us can win this war, I may as well tell you something you already know. Something I shouldn't."

Sonic remained silent.

"I know everything about Protocol: Blur."

"You don't. No-one does but me."

"I know your time is limited. And I found that out accidentally while building the Mark 1 Metal Sonic. No-one who was altered like you were should run that fast. Not without a severe heart condition. How long do you have? Ten years?"

"_Fifteen…_"

"_Fifteen_ years. So I executed the logic of any army general, or any employer. If you had the funding to do so, you'd find a replacement, one that was at least on-par with you."

"We spent one year doing what you spent ten years doing. And we did it better—"

Eggman's face was red at the fact being said aloud. "That was only because you had more DNA samples than I did!"

Sonic realised he could retort. "Let me guess what happens next. You send Lien-Da in to take the weapon?"

"Actually, no. I sent Lien-Da in to look for any documents about your condition. She found your weapon lying about on Rotor's table. She won't tell me any more about him yet, not even where he is."

"So this whole time you didn't know where the weapon is?!" Sonic growled. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"I was buying Lien-Da time to know about you searching for him. She already knows your weapon is a person and he should be a master at every martial art as soon as he can walk. She has over a thousand scientists looking at him, and by the time you find her, the blueprints will be complete."

"Blueprints?!" Sonic then realised his rival's plan. "Oh, _hell _no."

"And now she knows you're looking for her, meaning she'll be long out of the empire by the time this mess is cleaned up. Not really one for tactics, are you?"

"This is from a guy who spent twenty years _losing_ wars."

Eggman ignored that statement. "I told you I knew everything."

"You don't know about the Storm."

Eggman gave Sonic a confused look, which was returned with a smug grin. He would have asked him what he was talking about, but that was when the enormous doors behind the two swung open, and a yellow Mobian Fox holding an AK47, backed by twelve uniformed Mobians, jumped in.

"Put your hands up!" he screamed. "Everyone without badge is under arrest!"

Eggman dropped his pistol and did as he was told. Sonic got to his feet and handcuffed his rival. He turned to the would-be shooter. "Nice one, Tails."

"Did you find it?" Tails asked sternly.

"Eggman used his defences to buy time to warn Lien-Da. She must be miles away by now."

"You could have been killed," he hissed. "And you lost the bloody weapon. What do we do now?"

Sonic looked at his assistant like it was a stupid question. "We keep looking. We have to find him before the storm hits home."


End file.
